The tennis star is more than a global sports icon—she inspires millions of Chinese as a symbol of independence and freedom

It’s a hazy Sunday afternoon, and we’re standing in a parched field off Beijing’s Second Airport Expressway. Next to a sewage ditch, couples in wedding dresses and tuxedos breathe in car exhaust while posing among wildflowers. It isn’t the most romantic of settings, but pastoral backdrops are hard to come by in China’s capital. …